On 20th December 2025, plane watchers on X tracked the flight of a Russian military plane (RA-86572) from the Seychelles to Ivato International Airport, Madagascar. The plane is operated by 223 Flight Unit of the Russian Ministry of Defense and is sanctioned by the US.
Initially, there were no official announcements around the trip from Russian or Malagasy officials. However, the following evening – perhaps prompted by media inquiries – senior Malagasy politician Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko confirmed on Facebook that a 40-strong Russian delegation had visited the country to discuss military support, adding that they had also delivered military hardware to the Presidential Guard. Images accompanying Randrianasoloniaiko’s post showed the plane at the airport and close-ups of an assault rifle, as well as open boxes containing a Бумеранг (Boomerang) quad-copter and supporting hardware, including FPV goggles, controller and charger. Initially unveiled by the Russian military in March 2023 as a FPV kamikaze drone for the war in Ukraine, the Boomerang is now touted as a multi-functional drone for reconnaissance, logistics and mine-laying, with a purported range of up to 57km. It is not clear how many drones or rifles were delivered. Bloomberg, citing Randrianasoloniaiko, later reported that 40 troops and 43 crates of weapons had been delivered, including assault rifles, sniper rifles and anti-tank rocket systems.
Over three weeks after the delivery, on 14th January 2026, the President of Madagascar issued a statement on Facebook confirming that Russia had provided weapons and that training would be provided to the Malagasy Army, adding that the training with 140 instructors had commenced that day. Images posted alongside the statement, also posted by African Initiative a day later, showed various materiel, including assault rifles, scopes, sniper rifles, night vision goggles and two types of drone set out on a table in front of a group of Malagasy military forces, with three masked Russian trainers handling the gear.
Some Russian officials appear on photos at Ivato on 20th January 2026.
A special guest in the delegation
Randrianasoloniaiko’s original post on 21st December 2025, which stressed that the trip and delivery was “completely legal and diplomatic” and “without any hidden deals or violations of law”, said the delegation was led by the Russian Ambassador to Madagascar, “General Andrey Vladimirovich Andreyev” (NB: The Ambassador does not hold any military rank according to his official biography).
However, credible media reports and three separate sources contacted by INPACT have said that the delegation included General Andrey Averyanov, the former head of the GRU’s Unit 29155, and now head of the directorate for special operations outside of Ukraine, believed to be responsible for covert operations around the world, including coups, sabotage and assassinations.
Ukrainian sources – widely picked up by international media – had claimed Averyanov was killed only days earlier in a Ukrainian drone strike on a shadow fleet tanker in the Mediterranean Sea.
Besides dispelling rumours of his death, Averyanov’s presence in Madagascar would suggest the visit was more significant than passed off by Randrianasoloniaiko and the President’s office, and could indicate an effort by Russia to court and expand influence in Madagascar. Averyanov’s participation in delegations has previously been a precursor to deals providing practical military support from Africa Corps alongside “political technologists” for information/ influence operations for foreign governments. It appears the element of practical military support is already underway.
Culture and sanction evasion schemes
Security was not the only deal on the table. Back in November, a delegation from Madagascar met with Evgeny Primakov, head of Rossotrudnichestvo. The meeting resulted in the decision to open a “partner Russian House” in the country as soon as possible. As investigated by INPACT previously, partner Russian Houses are actually a franchise model delegating the management of the Russian House’s operations to an external entity not linked to the Russian state. This model and the openings have been facilitated by Africa Politology, historically connected to the Wagner Group with past activities in Madagascar and now working hand and in hand with the Russian external security service: SVR
On 24th January, private jets landed in Antananarivo airport for a secret meeting with the Refoundation president. According to African Intelligence, Mikhail Dorofeev, vice director of PSB, a bank under sanction and closely linked to both the Russian Ministry of Defense and the shadow fleet, was the one holding the meeting. Dorofeev is also said to be behind A7 crypto financing platform with branches in Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
Continuing where they left off
Russia’s growing influence in Madagascar over the last decade has been characterised by its ability to adapt and maintain deepening relations despite the country’s changing political leadership.
According to experts INPACT consulted, Madagascar has been historically influenced by the USSR in the past and has always entertained relationships with Russia.
Russia’s influence efforts in Madagascar first shot to prominence around the 2018 Presidential election, when a network of political consultants operated by Evgeny Prigozhin were heavily involved in what The New York Times described as “one of Russia’s most overt attempts at election interference to date”.
The effort – which included bribing other candidates to drop out, paying protestors and disinformation campaigns (BBC Africa Eye) – was reportedly agreed at a Kremlin meeting between the then incumbent President Hery Rajaonarimampianina, President Putin and Evgeny Prigozhin in March 2018. However, after initially backing Rajaonarimampianina, as the race went on Prigozhin’s operatives realised he had little chance of winning, and shifted support to Andry Rajoelina, who went on to win the election.
Under Rajoelina’s Presidency, Russia and Madagascar agreed and implemented several bilateral agreements, including a five-year military cooperation agreement in 2022, providing arms sales, collaboration in the development of military products, the training of military personnel and the maintenance of equipment.
Russia also developed other aspects of relations under the auspices of business. Ferrum Mining created with the help of Prigozhin’s structure obtained titles of a chrome mine. The project resulted in multiple worker strikes and unpaid salary with Ferrum Mining stopping operations. The assets were sold in 2023 to an unknown buyer. A last known company from that era has been the Investment Corporation Madagascar (INCOMAD) incorporated in 2019 and whose shareholder has been the Russian ambassador according to INPACT sources.
Rajoelina fled into exile in October 2025 when, after weeks of public protest, the elite CAPSAT military unit, led by now President Michael Randrianirina, ousted him from power. They have promised democratic elections within two years.
Again, the change in leadership appears to have had little effect on Russia’s relations with Madagascar. On 21 October – four days after being sworn in as interim President – Randrianirina met with the Russian Ambassador Andrey Andreev, who did everything he could to organise the meeting according to sources, to discuss ongoing cooperation during the transition period.
Alabuga and Madagascar
Alabuga was first marketed in Madagascar in June 2024, when a positive feature piece appeared on Agence Malagasy de Presse (AMP) offering a “career without borders” and “a ticket to a better future”. Similar Alabuga marketing appeared in other African countries around the same period.
A second glowing feature appeared on AMP in September 2024, but practical recruitment efforts in Madagascar started a month later, in November 2024, when an Alabuga delegation visited the country and announced an official memorandum of cooperation with “Les Amis De la Russie a Madagascar” (ARM), the main civil society organisation promoting bilateral relations. The delegation held an event to present Alabuga to prospective participants, with images posted by Alabuga’s Telegram account showing the delegation with the ARM leadership and a group of over twenty young women, presumably attendees to the event.
ARM’s dedicated page for Alabuga recruitment (Alabuga Start) stresses that ARM is the exclusive partner of Alabuga in Madagascar. It says that the programme aims “to attract ambitious young women from Africa, Latin America, and Asia to relocate to Russia, receive training, and work in various sectors such as services, logistics, and manufacturing. The program offers training, accommodation, a salary, and support, with the stated objective of promoting women’s empowerment and supporting Russian industry”, adding “However, recent investigations have raised concerns about the true nature of this program, linking it to the recruitment of labor for the Alabuga drone manufacturing plant.”
Despite this warning, ARM say they “facilitated the participation of more than 60 candidates from Madagascar” in Alabuga Start in 2025, with their page featuring images of approximately ten young women at the Alabuga campus and student accommodation in Russia. The photo filenames suggest the images were taken in late June (25 and 26) and on 13th September, when the group participated in Alabuga’s ‘Friendship of Nations Festival’, which also featured on Alabuga’s X Channel.
The recruitment effort has continued, with ARM hosting another recruitment event in November 2025 and making expanding the partnership with Alabuga its number one priority in 2026.
A balancing act
INPACT could consult some documents showing that the initial strategy was to try to isolate Madagascar from other partners by making their leader someone whose others do not want to be associated with. So far, this isolation strategy has not been bearing fruit. Madagascar’s new ruling heads, even the most publicly favourable to Russia, have demonstrated their eagerness to talk with everybody and to keep doors open and opportunities alive. Refoundation President Michael Randrianirina has declared in a long interview on Russia Today being open to anybody, talking and working with everybody as long as there is a win-win partnership. A position contrasting with Sahelian countries which have broken up abruptly with Western countries and are today facing strong challenges ahead.
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